Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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Question 121: To ask the Minister for Finance his views on the Central Bank report that the deposit base of Irish banks has fallen by €12 billion since the beginning of 2009; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18977/09]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I take it that the Deputy is referring to data in the latest Quarterly Bulletin (Q2) of the Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland (CBFSAI), which indicates that there was a reduction of some €14.7 billion in deposits held in credit institutions reporting to the CBFSAI for statistical purposes from December 2008 to March 2009. This figure includes a reduction of €6.3 billion in the deposits held by Irish residents, most of which is accounted for by a reduction of €4.9 billion in January 2009. A reduction of €7.9 billion held by non-euro area residents was recorded between December and March. This last figure predominantly relates to international banks.

I am informed by the Central Bank that the discrepancy between the €12 billion in the Deputy's question and the €14.7 billion in the latest published statistics is due to a revision upwards in the level of non-euro area resident deposits in December. This revision took place between the time the January Monthly Statistics were published and the date the last Quarterly Bulletin was published.

The Deputy will appreciate that in general, the total value of deposits held in credit institutions included in the Quarterly Bulletin statistics has been quite volatile since September 2008 reflecting uncertainty arising from the global economic and financial turmoil. It is also important to note that credit institutions located in the State can avail of liquidity funding from the European Central Bank.